Vintage Italian Air Force Coffee Cup & Saucer

$20.00

Quantity

Virtute Siderum Tenus

"With Valor to the Stars"

~Italian Air Force Motto

Italy is one of the first countries in the world to create a military air division. It all began in 1884 when King Umberto I, the king of Italy, authorized his Royal Army to develop its own air division; and with that, the Servizio Aeronautico or Air Service was born. In those very early years, almost two decades before the Wright Brothers would make their famous first flight, the Italian Air Service consisted of a small fleet of hot air balloons.

From those humble beginnings, the Air Service grew and by 1923 the Italian air force was founded by King Vittorio Emanuele III as a service independent from the army. This air force was known as the Regia Aeronautica or Royal Air Force. In 1946, a popular vote by the people resulted in the end of Italy as a kingdom and established the Italian Republic. Hence the Regia Aeronautica lost its "Royal" designation, and it became the Aeronautica Militare, a name that it has continued to hold ever since.

Discovered in a defunct supply depot outside of Rome, Italy, a cache of unused, Vintage Italian Air Force Tablewares. Produced by some of Italy's most traditional suppliers, these pieces were intended for use in the Officer's dining halls of the Italian Air Force. Imbued with the relaxed elegance and the impeccable quality that are the hallmarks of Italian design, each piece bears the logo of the Aeronautica Militare - the Air Force of the Italian Republic.

Unused Vintage Coffee Cups and Saucers produced exclusively for the Italian Air Force. In sturdy, bright-white porcelain, both the cup and saucer are decorated with cobalt blue bands and the crest of the Italian Air Force.